Time setting arrangement for an electronic watch

ABSTRACT

In an electronic time piece of the type wherein oscillator pulses are passed into a frequency divider and the output of the frequency divider is passed through switching means to pulse a motor which drives the display mechanism, a manual control is provided external to the watch case. The manual control has a neutral position, a first active position whereat it enables mechanical correction of the hour hand, and a second active position whereat it operates the switching means to bypass a portion of the frequency divider thereby increasing the rate at which the motor is pulsed and the minutes hand is advanced.

United States Patent 11 1 Cleusix et a1.

[4 1 Aug. 26, 1975 1 TIME SETTING ARRANGEMENT FOR AN ELECTRONIC WATCH [73] Assignee: Societe Suisse pour lIndustrie Horlogere Management Services S.A., Bienne, Switzerland [22] Filed: June 28, 1974 [21] Appl. No: 484,259

[51] Int. Cl. G04B 27/00 [58] Field of Search 58/34, 63, 85.5, 23 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,643,418 2/1972 Palin et :11 58/85.5 X

r Jr r *3 52752 1 I 2? A17 1 HZ I L l 3,733,803 5/1973 Hiraga et a1. 58/34 X 3,796,038 3/1974 Ushiyama 58/85.5 X 3,834,152 9/1974 Nishimura et a1. 58/85.5 X

Primary Examiner-Stephen J. Tomsky Assistant Examiner-U. Weldon Attorne Agent, or FirmGriffin, Branigan and Butler 57 ABSTRACT In an electronic time piece of the type wherein oscillator pulses are passed into a frequency divider and the output of the frequency divider is passed through switching means to pulse a motor which drives the display mechanism, a manual control is provided external to the watch case. The manual control has a neutral position, a first active position whereat it enables mechanical correction of the hour hand, and a second ac tive position whereat it operates the switching means to bypass a portion of the frequency divider thereby increasing the rate at which the motor is pulsed and the minutes hand is advanced.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED A UB 2 6 I975 Fig.7.

PATENTEB AUGZB I975 SHEET 2 UF 4 for an electronic watch and has for its principal object the facilitation of such time setting while simplifying the mechanism and reducing the space occupied thereby. Thus the invention should be of interest in the domain of ladies wrist watches where miniaturization assumes great importance.

In the type of watch under consideration a frequency controlled oscillator (quartz controlledfor example) generates high frequency electrical'signals which are passed by a frequency divider circuit to energize a motor. The motor in turn, through a suitable gear train,

drives the usual time indicating means, i.e. minute hand, hour hand and possibly a calendanTo effect the maximum miniaturization in order to, among other things, reduce the size of this type of watchto a point where it is compatible with the requirements of a ladies wrist watch, the seconds hand may be omitted without in any way reducing the high precision of the watch. The ability to correct the hourhand, that is tosay add or subtract one or several hours as well as to correct the date, must be retained. This ability is required in the case of the hour hand whenever time zones. are changed, whenever the international date line is crossed, and for certain countries, at the time the changes are made between summer and winter time or vice versa. Obviously, it'isalso desirable to retain the ability of setting the minute hand of the watch.

The invention resolves this problem in a fashion such as to permit either setting of the hour hand only or the minute hand only through the use of a single control member accessible from the exterior. The control member may occupy two extreme positions on either side of a central position, each of these extreme positions corresponding to an operation to be carried out.

Such an arrangement is particularly advantageous. Effectively, the use of a single control member enables considerable simplification and eliminates from the beginning the various problems which may be caused by supplementary control members. Such problems may, for example, involve space requirements, sealing of the watch case, costs and the like. Moreover, the minute hand setting arrangement is such as to eliminate any additional mechanism and requires use only of an electronic circuit already provided in the watch.

The invention accordingly provides an electronic time piece comprising a high frequency oscillator, a frequency divider circuit and switching means controlling a synchronous or stepping motor, such motor driving a display mechanism which includes at least a minutehand and an hour hand characterized in that a single control mechanism accessible from the exterior is arranged to occupy three positions, the intermediate of which is a neutral position, the position of the mechanism when drawn to the exterior relative to the neutral position enabling a mechanical correction of the hour hand and a pushed-in position relative to the neutral position changing the state of the switching means, thus modifying the energy supply to the motor in a manner to increase its speed of rotation for the minute hand setting.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be specifically described having reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIGS. 1-3 represent three different positions of a control mechanism for correcting the hour hand and the minute hand in accordance with the invention; and,

FIG. 4 shows acircuit scheme of an electronic time piece provided with the necessary modifications for carrying out the invention.

In FIG. 1 the control mechanism comprises a conventional time setting stem 1 passing through a case work 2 of a watch. Just as in the classic time setting mechanism the stem 1 controls the position of a pull-out piece 3 which is biased by a check spring 4,'and may pivot about an axis. The pull-out piece 3 determines the position of a sliding pinion 5 through interposition of lever 6. The assembled mechanism may occupy three distinct positions as determined directly by the position of stem 1. These are a neutral position as shown in FIG. 1; a position with the stem pulled out as represented in FIG. 2; and, a position with the stem pushed in as shown in FIG. 3.

In FIG. 3 it is to be noted that lever 6 and sliding pinion 5 remain in the neutral position.

When there is occasion to correct the hour hand the stem 1 is drawn towards the exterior from its neutral position and the sliding pinion 5 then engages a setting wheel 7 which in turn engages the date wheel, or, in the absence of a calendar, the hour wheel or motion work (not shown). The hour hand correction is then effected by rotating the stem 1 about its axis by means of the usual crown. When the operation has been terminated stem 1 is restored to its intermediate neutral position.

The hour hand correction must be effected without disturbing in any manner the normal functioning of the time piece and moreover should effect changes equivalent to an integral number of hours. Various mechanisms have already been proposed for this purpose, as for example that to be found in Swiss patent No. 526,804.

When the minute hand setting is required the stem 1 is pushed towards the interior from its neutral position and the pull-out piece 3 is formed such that, at a portion thereof close to a part which co-operates with the check spring 4, it is applied to a key 8 fixed to the bottom plate of the watch and arranged to change thr state of an electric switch associated with key 8. The switch is incorporated in the electronic control circuit for the watch motor and thus its change of state cuts out a portion of the frequency divider circuit in a manner to permit energization of the motor at a frequency considerably higher than that used during the normal function. Minute hand setting thus is accomplished very rapidly and by means of an arrangement which apart from the control mechanism described above eliminates all additional mechanisms of the type normally associated with time setting.

An electronic circuit lending itself to minute hand setting of the type contemplated by the invention is shown in FIG. 4.

Quartz controlled oscillator 10 provides signals at a frequency of 32,768 Hz to a first divider circuit 1 1. The output of circuit 11 is 128 Hz and is further reduced to a frequency of 32 Hz by a second divider circuit 12, and finally to one-third Hz by a third divider circuit 13. The latter transmits signals to the first input 14 of a two-position switch. Conductor 18, which shunts frequency divider circuit 13, transmits the frequency of 32 Hz to' a second input of the switch. The pulse train available at the output 16 of the switch passes through a further divider stage 17 before being delivered to motor 20 via the interface circuit 19. Conductor 21 connects the output of the first divider circuit 11 and the interface circuit 19 in order to determine the duration of pulses supplied to the motor and limits this to 1/128 second.

During normal functioning of the time piece, output 16 of the switch is connected to input 14. When the minute hand requires setting, output 16 is connected to input 15 by means of the mechanical application of the pull-out piece 3 to the key 8 in association with the switch (note FIG. 3). Divider stage 17 thus receives pulses at a frequency of 32 Hz instead of one-third Hz. The motor 20 accordingly steps at the rate of 32 steps per second instead of one step every 3 seconds as provided for during normal functioning of the time piece.

As will be apparent from the preceding description the application of the invention is particularly simple. A single control mechanism, accessible from the exterior, suffices to effect their hour hand or minute hand setting, and this is particularly advantageous in view of the space saved and the sealing problems avoided. 7

What we claim is:

1. An electronic time piece of the type comprising a high frequency oscillator, a frequency divider circuit and switching means coupled to said divider circuit for controlling a motor, said motor driving a display mechanism which includes at least a minute hand and an hour hand, and wherein a single control mechanism accessible from the exterior is arranged to occupy three positions, the intermediate of which is a neutral position, the position of the mechanism when drawn to the exterior relative to the neutral position enabling a mechanical correction of the hour hand and a pushed-in position relative to the neutral position changing the state of the switching means to by-pass a predetermined number of stages in said frequency divider circuit, thus modifying the energy supply to the motor in a manner to increase its speed of rotation for the minute hand setting.

2. An electronic time piece as in claim 1 wherein the control mechanism is in the form of a stem-push piece provided with a crown. I

3. An electronic time piece as in claim 1 wherein the change of state of the switch removes from the frequency dividing circuit a predetermined number of stages whereby the motor is energized at a frequency substantially higher than that applied during normal running of the time piece.

4. An electronic time piece as in claim 2 wherein the hour hand correction is effected through manual rotation of the crown.

5. An electronic time piece as claimed in claim 3 wherein the control mechanism is in the form of a stempush piece provided with a crown.

6. An electronic time piece as claimed in claim 3 wherein the. hour hand correction is effected through manual rotation of the crown.

7. An electronic time piece as claimed in claim 1 wherein said motor is a stepping motor.

8. An electronic time piece as claimed in claim 1 wherein said motor is a synchronous motor. 

1. An electronic time piece of the type comprising a high frequency oscillator, a frequency divider circuit and switching means coupled to said divider circuit for controlling a motor, said motor driving a display mechanism which includes at least a minute hand and an hour hand, and wherein a single control mechanism accessible from the exterior is arranged to occupy three positions, the intermediate of which is a neutral position, the position of the mechanism when drawn to the exterior relative to the neutral position enabling a mechanical correction of the hour hand and a pushed-in position relative to the neutral position changing the state of the switching means to by-pass a predetermined number of stages in said frequency divider circuit, thus modifying the energy supply to the motor in a manner to increase its speed of rotation for the minute hand setting.
 2. An electronic time piece as in claim 1 wherein the control mechanism is in the form of a stem-push piece provided with a crown.
 3. An electronic time piece as in claim 1 wherein the change of state of the switch removes from the frequency dividing circuit a predetermined number of stages whereby the motor is energized at a frequency substantially higher than that applied during normal running of the time piece.
 4. An electronic time piece as in claim 2 wherein the hour hand correction is effected through manual rotation of the crown.
 5. An electronic time piece as claimed in claim 3 wherein the control mechanism is in the form of a stem-push piece provided with a crown.
 6. An electronic time piece as claimed in claim 3 wherein the hour hand correction is effected through manual rotation of the crown.
 7. An electronic time piece as claimed in claim 1 wherein said motor is a stepping motor.
 8. An electronic time piece as claimed in claim 1 wherein said motor is a synchronous motor. 